RISI-KROHN FERRARI SEBRING RACE NOTES

The Risi Competizione team continued its endurance race streak and took Saturday’s GT2 victory in the 58th Annual 12 Hours of Sebring race with the No. 62 Ferrari 430 GT with drivers Jaime Melo, Gianmaria Bruni and Pierre Kaffer.

The No. 61 Risi-Krohn Ferrari team of Tracy W. Krohn, Nic Jönsson and Eric van de Poele finished in seventh place in the GT2 class.

After suffering an intermittent misfire throughout much of the race, causing them to be down on power, the Risi-Krohn team was ultimately happy with their finish position, which was 14th overall and ten laps down from the GT2 winners. There were no unscheduled pit stops for the No. 61 Risi-Krohn team and just a brief penalty for a pit lane speed violation for van de Poele just two and one-half hours from the 10:30 p.m. ET finish.

DRIVER QUOTES:
TRACY W. KROHN, Team Owner/Driver, No. 61 Risi-Krohn Ferrari 430:
“Overall it was a fairly good result. The problem was the car was misfiring and at the end we broke something in the right rear suspension. Nic was driving the car. I was going to get in the car for the final stint but with the motor misfiring and a broken rear shock it probably didn’t  make sense to feel something you hadn’t gotten used to so we just kept Nic in and kept hold of seventh place. I think under the circumstances, with the car underpowered and crippled, that was a pretty good finish.”

Both Nic and Eric did an outstanding job. Otherwise the car was pretty good.  Brakes were good, balance was good, and tires were good. It’s just one of those things that happen in racing once in awhile.

NIC JONSSON, Driver, No. 61 Risi-Krohn Ferrari 430:
“It’s always fun to drive the Ferrari, of course. It’s kind of an honor to be driving a Ferrari in any type of race series. Unfortunately, today we had some electrical issues that caused the engine to cut out on us and lose power randomly. Then in the last hour and a half we also had a right rear shock go out on me, so it was a pretty rough last stint in the car. We brought it home in seventh place, which was mid-pack. We beat both the GM factory cars, the Corvettes, so we’re pleased with that. Everything worked in the middle of the day for some laps in a row without any interruption and we were able to run basically in the top 3-4 pace, which I’m very happy with. The sister car (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari) won. They were definitely the class of the field and we couldn’t stay with them by any means. They were about a second quicker than we were. Otherwise I’m very pleased.

“Eric did a fantastic job. Tracy also did a good job staying out of trouble. The car was good, except the interruptions we had electronically, which the team didn’t have anything to do with. The preparation of the car was as good as always. I’m looking forward to going to Laguna for another 6-hour race and getting even more prepared for the big race in Le Mans in June.”

ERIC VAN DE POELE, Driver, No. 61 Risi-Krohn Ferrari 430:
“I’m always very happy to finish a race at Sebring because it is always so hard. Again, we had a little problem but generally we did very good pit stops; I don’t think any of us made a mistake on the track, so that’s important; and the car was nearly perfect from a chassis point-of-view, except for the misfire from the engine.  I had a problem with the brakes but except otherwise everything was fine and consistent. I’m happy always to finish this race. It’s a pleasure to drive for Giuseppe and Tracy. I also want to say congratulations to Jaime, Gimmi and Pierre and the whole Risi team. Everyone did a great job.”

The Risi-Krohn team competes in selected races in the American Le Mans Series and the 12 Hours of Sebring is always a team favorite. Their best Sebring result to date was a third-place podium finish in 2008. Krohn and Jönsson will return to ALMS competition at Long Beach California on April 17, 2010. Additionally, the Risi-Krohn Ferrari trio of Krohn, Jönsson and van de Poele will race together in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 12-13, 2010.

Courtesy ALMS © RIF